Work In Progress
by KatAli21
Summary: A multi-chapter story that follows a young woman as she runs into the famous Winchester Brothers. After a case of mistaken identity, the woman takes the boys to where she works, a place called Progress, a home for young hunters. Follow the brothers and their new acquaintances as they battle supernatural beings across the country.


Gravel crunched under the tires of my green Mustang. Mist was rising off the pond that sat behind the old manor, giving the night a haunted look when combined with the clear night and full moon. As I stepped out of my car a shiver ran up my spine and I laughed at myself. Too many of those late night horror films, I guess. The front door had been chained shut centuries ago judging by the rust and vines on the chains. I tugged on the chain a couple times trying to get it to come open but the chain wouldn't budge. I took a few steps back and ran toward the door, hitting it with the full force of my weight. This time the door cracked. The sound of splintering wood shattered the silence of the night but the chain still didn't break. I stood back again and ran toward the door, hitting it again with all my weight. The door burst into a thousand fragments and I fell through. I rolled onto my back and tried to catch my breath. Mentally I was cataloguing my injuries and trying to figure out if I was seriously hurt. I pushed myself up onto my knees and rolled my shoulders. Not very graceful but it did the job.

I stood, pulled a flashlight from my bag and flicked it on. I examined the crumbling interior of the house as I walked into the foyer. As the house opened up, things got dustier and cobwebs became a major problem. The moonlight was pouring through the windows that had been broken out years ago and was casting a creepy glow onto the hardwood floor that had once been beautiful but was now layered with dust and scarred. I walked farther into the house and began my search. I scanned each room searching for some sign of what I might be looking for. Then, a squeak echoed down the stairs causing my heart to stop mid-beat. I whirled around and faced the stairs, pulling my gun out of the backpack I had slung over my shoulder. As I walked toward the stairs, I noticed that my hands were shaking so badly that I could hardly hold onto my gun. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and that was the last thing that I remember before it all goes black.

When I woke up, I was tied to an old chair. It was made of hard wood and smelled like it hadn't been used for a very long time. I didn't open my eyes but instead tried to take in my surroundings, trying to find a way of escape. I could feel that my hands were tied behind my back with my legs tied to the legs of the chair. I knew there were two other beings in the room but I didn't know who or what they were. I could hear the low murmur of voices coming from across the room but I couldn't understand anything they were saying. My hands and feet were beginning to ache from the position they were in and I had to concentrate so that I didn't move, alerting the others in the room that I had awakened. The voices had stopped and I could hear footsteps coming toward me. A chair scraped against the hardwood floors and I heard someone settle themselves into the chair only a few feet in front of me. I took a deep breath and lifted my head. I opened my eyes and was surprised to see a young woman, maybe early twenties, sitting before me. I couldn't see where her companion was but that didn't really concern me at that moment.

The woman was dressed in a floor length gown that looked like something that you would wear to prom not in a broken down old mansion. It was long and flowing and was trimmed around the bodice and the skirt with green beading. She had long white hair running down her back and dark skin. I didn't recognize her right off the bat as any specific type of creature but I knew that once she started talking, I would be able to figure out who, and what, she was. But she didn't say anything. She didn't even really acknowledge my presence. She simply sat ramrod-straight in her chair and looked down at her hands folded in her lap. I cleared my throat and her head whipped up.

"You are awake. I began worrying when you didn't stir earlier. Are you feeling alright?" She tipped her head as she spoke to me and the room around us seemed to glow. It was a cold glow, not something akin to sunshine on a spring day but more along the lines of light reflected off of ice, cold and broken, refracting into a thousand pieces.

I swallowed and nodded my head, which I found was a mistake when a splitting pain rushed through my head and neck. "What have you done to me?"

"Oh nothing much. I just had you hit over the head. I couldn't have you struggling as we tied you to this chair, could I?" Her words were spoken in a sickly sweet voice that made it hard for me to concentrate but I knew there was something more going on.

"What are you?" I asked, nonchalantly shrugging my shoulders and rolling my neck, trying to get a feel for how tightly my hands were tied.

She stood and walked toward me, hands still clasped in front of her. "I'm Epimeliad. Have you ever heard of me?"

I hadn't. I still couldn't even figure out what she was but I knew that how I answered was probably going to change how she felt toward. "The name sounds so familiar," I lied. "It is just on the tip of my tongue." I arranged my face into a look of deep concentration, desperately searching for where I might have heard the name.

"You're lying!" She screamed, hands fisted in her dress. "You've never heard of me. Back in my day, everyone knew who I was and knew that I was to be feared! No one would dare come near me and people worshiped me like the goddess that I truly am! I am Epimeliad, goddess of Greece ruler over orchards and flocks. And you shall treat me with the respect that is due!"

I stifled a laugh. So, I wasn't really great under pressure. I had a tendency to laugh, which often got me into trouble. Just like now.

"You dare to laugh at me? I may not be the goddess of love or of hunters but I am still to be feared. Do you enjoy eating? There are famines across this land because I am sorely displeased. I can make things stop growing, cause hundreds of thousands of animals to die. I am not someone who can be laughed at. And because you chose to mock me, you shall meet your fate."

While she had been ranting, I had found a sharp sliver of wood sticking out from the back of the chair. I began frantically rubbing my tied wrists against it, trying to break the fibers holding them together. It was working but too slowly. Suddenly, the door banged open. Dust fell from the roof as two men rushed into the room. I took this opportunity to break my hands free from their restraints. Epimeliad had her hands thrust out in front of her creating some sort of force field that was keeping the two men from coming close to her. I reached down to untie my feet and quickly stood. Epimeliad had forgotten about me and had turned her back. I searched the ground around me for some sort of weapon. I found a broken piece of wood that had once been a part of the door. I wrapped my hand around it and ran toward her. My weapon sank into her back but it didn't seem to faze her. Her force field to the front dropped and she spun toward me. She threw one hand toward me, emitting some sort of force that threw me backwards. I slammed against the wall and slid to the floor. I scrambled to my feet, feeling the back of my head and finding blood. I shook my head and reached down to grab my backpack which Epimeliad's thug must have brought up along with my body from downstairs. I grabbed the gun and pointed it at her. I fired off a few shots but she just kept coming. Her hands were cupped around a small ball of glowing red light that set her features in a horrible, deathly glow.

Then she stopped. Her face grew pale and her hands fell to her sides. She looked down at her stomach where a black spot was blooming across her dress. She looked up at me then exploded in a ball of red light. A wave of heat burst over me, forcing me back against the wall. When I looked back at where she was, a single red apple was sitting on the floor.

"Isn't there some story about not eating an apple that the creepy lady gives you?" A deep rough voice startled me out of my thoughts. The man it belonged to was dressed in scuffed boots, jeans, and a battered jacket. The man beside him nodded. The first man nudged the second. "I dare you to eat it."


End file.
